Office-door message-box.



ATENT JFFICEe GEORGE EARNEST TOMS, VANCOUVER, CANADA.

OFFICE=DOOR VIVISSAG E-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters :Patent No. 644,378, dated February 27, 1900.

Application filcd OGtOber 11, 1899. Serial No. 733,312. (No model.)

T0 all witam it maty concern- Be it known that I, GEORGE EARNEsr ToMs, a citizen of the Dominion of Canada, residin g at Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, Canada, have invented a new and useful Office-Door Message-Box, of which the following is a specificaiion.

Myinvention relates to an imp'roved method of delivering messages to offices where the occupant thereof is not present at all hours of the day to receive possible business callers; and my object is to provide a device to be attached to the outer side of a door for receiving and safely conveying any and all messages that may be left in the absence of the occupant of any office or other place of business to the inner side of the door. I attain this object by the mechanical device illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows a front elevation of my invention attached to a door, and Fig. 2 is a side sectional elevation of the same on the line a a.

Similar numerals and letters refer to similar parts in the views.

A indicates a box or case which is com posed of a fiat base 1, having screw-holes at each end thereof to receive screws 2 for securing it to the door B, side plates 3, having curved edges, and a cover 4 on the lower part, which may be integrally formed with or otherwise secured to the base 1 and the sides 3, and the upper portion, -as 5, is connected to the portion 4 by hinges 6, the upper end being provided with eyelet-lugs 7, through which is passed a rod 8, thus .securing the cover in a closed position. About the center of the cover 5 is provided a fiat surface, and occupying this flat space is an opening 9. Hinged on the upper side of this opening 9 is a flat plate or table 10, the lower opposite corners of which rest on fianges 11 on the opposite ends of'a drum 12, mounted on a shaft 13.7

Suitably mounted near the upper part of the box, above the table 10, are rolls 14 and 15, which lie parallel and close together. The

roll 14 is provided with an extended stem 16 to the exterior of the box, on which is fixed a disk 17, having a knurled periphery, and on the inside of the box fixed on this stem is a rack 18, designed to engage a pawl 19,fixed on the side of the box. This rack and pawl is to prevent the roll 14 from being turned the wrong way.

The drum 12 is provided With a roll of paper 20, the loose end of which is passed between' the flattened part of the hinged cover 5 and the table 10, between the rolls 14 and 15, through a slot 21 in the plate 1 and a corresponding slot a in the doorpB, to the opposite side thereof.

In the application of my invention the box is secured to the outer side of an office or other door, and a slot is made in said door to coincide with the slot 21 for the passage of the paper. The paper 20, which is wound on a drum 12, is supported by each end of the shaft 13 thereof, lying in grooved recesses 22 on each side of the box, and is drawn over the table 10 and inserted between the rolls 14 and 15 ready for use. The message is written on the paper lying against the table 10, and the disk 17 is turned, which conveys the writing to the opposite side of the door B, where it will immediately be seen by the occupant .of the office when entering. He tears off the message or messages and may file them away for further reference, if desired.

Owing to the lower opposite corners of the table 10 lying against the fianges of the drum 12, said drum will be preventedv tnrning too easily,`and consequently the paper will be held in a comparatively-tight position over the table 10 for the Writer.

I am aware that prior to my invention many devices having my object in view have been employed but so far as I am aware none have been in use having the simple means for conveying a ribbon of writing-paper to the opposite side of a door.I Therefore What I claim as new, and desire to be protected in by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a device for the. purposes set forth having a closable box with an upper side having an opening for exposing the writing material an inclined table under said opening, in combination with a drum 12 for the Writing material, having flanges thereon supporting the lower side of the said table, conveying-rolls 14 and 15 located at the upper side of the table arranged to receive the paper therebetween, a rack-and-pawl mechanism to prevent the rolls from being turned back- IOO with its lower` side resting on the fianges of xo the drum 12, rolls 14 and 15 located at the upper side of said table, means for turning said rolls forward only, and a slot 21 in the back 'of the box for the passage of the paper;

GEORGE EARNEST TOMS. Witnesses:

ROWLAND BRITTAIN, EDITH G. MACKENROT. 

